Charging system and method, and network device

ABSTRACT

A communications system, a core network device and a non-transitory machine-readable medium are provided. In the communications system, a master base station gather traffic statistics information on a service of a user terminal which is transmitted between the user terminal and the master base station through a secondary base station, and sends a message to a core network device. The message includes the traffic statistic information for calculating a charge on the service by the core network device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/306,853, filed on Dec. 3, 2018, which is a national stage applicationof International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2016/081743, filed on May11, 2016. The International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2016/081743claims priority to International Patent Application No.PCT/CN2015/100318, filed on Dec. 31, 2015. All of aforementioned patentapplications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of communicationstechnologies, and in particular, to a charging system and method, and anetwork device.

BACKGROUND

A basic consensus about a future evolved radio access technology in thecurrent industry is that there is no core network and there is no higherlayer protocol stack in the future evolved radio access technology. Forexample, there is no non-access stratum (NAS), radio resource control(RRC) layer, or Internet Protocol (IP) layer, and there is only a layer1/layer 2 (L1/L2). An air interface technology used in the futureevolved radio access technology may be specifically, for example, afilter band multicarrier (FBMC) technology, a faster than Nyquist (FTN)technology, a generalized frequency division multiplexing (GFDM)technology, or a non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) technology, andthese technologies are temporarily and collectively referred to asfuture evolved air interface access technologies.

Currently, because different radio access technologies are configuredwith respective core networks, when a terminal accesses radio networksof different standards, a corresponding core network performs chargingon a service carried through the radio network.

In the future evolved radio access technology, when data is transferredby using a corresponding air interface technology, because the futureevolved radio access technology communication system does not include acore network, how to perform charging on a service carried by using thefuture evolved radio technology is an urgent problem to be resolved.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a charging system andmethod, and a network device, to resolve a problem that when a corenetwork is not provided in a future evolved radio access technology,charging cannot be performed on a service carried by using the futureevolved radio technology.

According to a first aspect, a charging system is provided. The chargingsystem includes:

a first access device in a first radio network, configured to: determinethat a service carried by a user terminal is a service transferred byusing a second radio access technology, and send, to a mobilitymanagement entity in the first radio network, a first message thatcarries a first indication;

the mobility management entity in the first radio network, configuredto: receive the first message sent by the first access device or asecond access device when the first access device or the second accessdevice determines that the service carried by the user terminal is aservice transferred by using the second radio access technology, andwhen determining that the first message carries the first indication,add the first indication to a second message, and send the secondmessage to a core network gateway in the first radio network; and

the core network gateway in the first radio network, configured to:receive the second message sent by the mobility management entity in thefirst radio network, and when determining that the second messagecarries the first indication, perform charging on a service that is sentto the second access device, carried by the user terminal, andtransferred by using the second radio access technology; where

the first indication is used to indicate that the service carried by theuser terminal is a service transferred by using the second radio accesstechnology, the second access device is located in a second radionetwork that uses the second radio access technology, and the firstaccess device and the second access device use different radio accesstechnologies.

According to a second aspect, a charging method is provided. Thecharging method includes:

determining, by a first access device in a first radio network, that aservice carried by a user terminal is a service transferred by using asecond radio access technology; and

sending, by the first access device to a mobility management entity inthe first radio network, a first message that carries a firstindication, and sending, to a core network gateway in the first radionetwork through the mobility management entity, a second message thatcarries the first indication, where the first indication is used toindicate that the service carried by the user terminal is a servicetransferred by using the second radio access technology.

In a possible design, the determining, by a first access device, that aservice carried by a user terminal is a service transferred by using asecond radio access technology may be implemented in the followingmanner:

when receiving an attach request message sent by the user terminal byusing the second radio access technology, determining, by the firstaccess device, that the service carried by the user terminal is aservice transferred by using the second radio access technology.

In a possible design, before the first access device receives the attachrequest message sent by the user terminal by using the second radioaccess technology, the method further includes:

receiving, by the first access device through a second access device ina second radio network, a radio resource control RRC connection requestmessage sent by the user terminal, and feeding back an RRC connectionsetup message to the user terminal through the second access device, tocomplete RRC connection setup of the user terminal, where the secondaccess device is located in the second radio network that uses thesecond radio access technology, and the first access device and thesecond access device use different radio access technologies.

When the first access device receives the attach request message sent bythe user terminal by using the second radio access technology, the firstmessage may be an initial terminal message, and the second message maybe a create session request message.

In this design, the user terminal accesses a core network of the firstradio network through the second radio network and communicates acorresponding service by using the second radio access technology.Therefore, the core network of the first radio network may be used toperform charging on the corresponding service transferred by using thesecond radio access technology.

In a possible design, the determining, by a first access device, that aservice carried by a user terminal is a service transferred by using asecond radio access technology may be implemented in the followingmanner:

sending, by the first access device, an addition request message to asecond access device when determining to add the second access device toperform data split;

receiving, by the first access device, an addition request acknowledgemessage fed back by the second access device, where the addition requestacknowledge message carries related configuration information of thesecond access device;

adding, by the first access device, the related configurationinformation of the second access device to an RRC connectionreconfiguration message, and sending the RRC connection reconfigurationmessage to the user terminal; and

after receiving an RRC connection reconfiguration complete message fedback by the user terminal, determining, by the first access device, thatthe service carried by the user terminal is a service transferred byusing the second radio access technology.

In a possible design, before the sending, by the first access device, anaddition request message to a second access device when determining toadd the second access device to perform data split, the method furtherincludes:

determining, by the first access device, that the user terminal accessesthe first radio network through the first access device; or

determining, by the first access device, that the user terminal accessesthe first radio network through the second access device, and receivingan addition request message sent by the second access device.

When the first access device receives the RRC connection reconfigurationcomplete message fed back by the user terminal, and determines that theservice carried by the user terminal is a service transferred by usingthe second radio access technology, the first message is a bearermodification indication message, and the second message is a bearermodification request message.

In this design, the user terminal communicates a corresponding serviceby using the second radio access technology in a dual connectivityscenario of the first radio network and the second radio network.Therefore, the core network of the first radio network may be used toperform charging on the corresponding service transferred by using thesecond radio access technology.

In a possible design, the determining, by a first access device, that aservice carried by a user terminal is a service transferred by using asecond radio access technology includes:

after determining that the user terminal is handed over from a thirdaccess device that performs data split with a second access device tothe first access device, sending, by the first access device, anaddition request message to the second access device when determining tocontinue performing data split through the second access device, wherethe first access device and the third access device use a same radioaccess technology;

receiving, by the first access device, an addition request acknowledgemessage fed back by the second access device, where the addition requestacknowledge message includes related configuration information of thesecond access device;

adding, by the first access device, the related configurationinformation of the second access device to an RRC connectionreconfiguration message, and sending the RRC connection reconfigurationmessage to the user terminal; and

after receiving an RRC connection reconfiguration complete message fedback by the user terminal, determining, by the first access device, thatthe service carried by the user terminal is a service transferred byusing the second radio access technology.

When the first access device receives the RRC connection reconfigurationcomplete message fed back by the user terminal, and determines that theservice carried by the user terminal is a service transferred by usingthe second radio access technology, the first message is a path switchrequest message, and the second message is a bearer modification requestmessage or a create session request message.

In this design, the user terminal is handed over from the first accessdevice in the first radio network to the third access device in thefirst radio network. Because the first access device is performing datasplit with the second access device in the second network, when thesecond access device in the second network is enabled to continue thedata split process, a corresponding service is transferred by using thesecond radio access technology. Therefore, the core network of the firstradio network may be used to perform charging on the correspondingservice transferred by using the second radio access technology.

According to a third aspect, a charging method is provided. The chargingmethod includes:

receiving, by a mobility management entity in a first radio network, afirst message sent by a first access device or a second access devicewhen the first access device or the second access device determines thata service carried by a user terminal is a service transferred by using asecond radio access technology, where the second access device islocated in a second radio network that uses the second radio accesstechnology, and the first access device and the second access device usedifferent radio access technologies; and

when determining that the first message carries a first indication,adding, by the mobility management entity, the first indication to asecond message, and sending the second message to a core network gatewayin the first radio network, where the first indication is used toindicate that the service carried by the user terminal uses the secondradio access technology.

When the first message is an initial terminal message, the secondmessage is a create session request message; or

when the first message is a bearer modification indication message, thesecond message is a bearer modification request message; or

when the first message is a path switch request message, if the mobilitymanagement entity determines that the core network gateway of the userterminal in the first radio network needs to change, the second messageis a create session request message; or if the mobility managemententity determines that the core network gateway of the user terminal inthe first radio network does not need to change, the second message is abearer modification request message.

According to a fourth aspect, a charging method is provided. Thecharging method includes:

receiving, by a core network gateway in a first radio network, a secondmessage sent by a mobility management entity in the first radio network;and

when determining that the second message carries a first indication,performing, by the core network gateway, charging on a service that issent to a second access device, carried by a user terminal, andtransferred by using a second radio access technology, where the firstindication is used to indicate that the service carried by the userterminal is a service transferred by using the second radio accesstechnology.

The second message is a create session request message or a bearermodification request message.

According to a fifth aspect, a network device is provided, and thenetwork device has a function of implementing actual behavior of thefirst access device in the foregoing method. The function may beimplemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware by executingcorresponding software. The hardware or the software includes one ormore modules corresponding to the foregoing function.

In a possible design, a structure of the network device includes aprocessor, a transceiver, and a communications unit. The processor isconfigured to support the network device in performing the correspondingfunction in the foregoing method. The transceiver is configured tosupport communication between the network device and a user terminal tosend information or an instruction in the foregoing method to the userterminal, and the communications unit is configured to supportcommunication between the network device and another network entity tosend information or an instruction in the foregoing method to theanother network entity. The network device may further include a memory.The memory is configured to be coupled to the processor. The memorystores a program instruction and data required by the network device.

According to a sixth aspect, a network device is provided, and thenetwork device has a function of implementing actual behavior of themobility management entity in the first radio network in the foregoingmethod. The network device may be a mobility management entity in a corenetwork. The function may be implemented by hardware, or may beimplemented by hardware by executing corresponding software. Thehardware or the software includes one or more modules corresponding tothe foregoing function.

In a possible design, a structure of the network device includes aprocessor and a transceiver, and the processor is configured to supportthe network device in performing the corresponding function in theforegoing method. The transceiver is configured to support communicationbetween the network device and each of a first access device and a corenetwork gateway in a first radio network to send information or aninstruction in the foregoing method to the first access device and thecore network gateway in the first radio network. The network device mayfurther include a memory. The memory is configured to be coupled to theprocessor. The memory stores a program instruction and data required bythe network device.

According to a seventh aspect, a network device is provided, and thenetwork device has a function of implementing actual behavior of thecore network gateway in the first radio network in the foregoing method.The network device may be a core network gateway in a core network. Thefunction may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented byhardware by executing corresponding software. The hardware or thesoftware includes one or more modules corresponding to the foregoingfunction.

In a possible design, a structure of the network device includes aprocessor and a transceiver, and the processor is configured to supportthe network device in performing the corresponding function in theforegoing method. The transceiver is configured to support communicationbetween the network device and a mobility management entity in a firstradio network to send information or an instruction in the foregoingmethod to the mobility management entity. The network device may furtherinclude a memory. The memory is configured to be coupled to theprocessor. The memory stores a program instruction and data required bythe network device.

According to an eighth aspect, a computer storage medium is provided,the computer storage medium is configured to store a computer softwareinstruction used by the foregoing first access device, and the computersoftware instruction includes a program designed to perform theforegoing aspects.

According to a ninth aspect, a computer storage medium is provided, thecomputer storage medium is configured to store a computer softwareinstruction used by the foregoing mobility management entity in thefirst radio network, and the computer software instruction includes aprogram designed to perform the foregoing aspects.

According to a tenth aspect, a computer storage medium is provided, thecomputer storage medium is configured to store a computer softwareinstruction used by the foregoing core network gateway in the firstradio network, and the computer software instruction includes a programdesigned to perform the foregoing aspects.

In comparison with the currently references, in the solutions providedin the present disclosure, a charging function for a service that iscarried by the terminal and that is transferred by using the secondradio technology can be implemented by the core network gateway in thefirst radio network. The method is simple in implementation and is easyto promote.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of physical networking in an LTE-5G dualconnectivity scenario;

FIG. 2 is another schematic diagram of physical networking in an LTE-5Gdual connectivity scenario;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a charging method according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a charging method on an access network side ofa first radio network according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a charging method on a mobility managemententity side of a first radio network according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a charging method on a core network side of afirst radio network according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram of user plane protocol stacks of an LTEeNB and a 5G base station according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7B is a schematic diagram of control plane protocol stacks of anLTE eNB and a 5G base station according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7C is a schematic diagram of a user plane protocol stack of an X5interface between an LTE eNB and a 5G base station according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7D is a schematic diagram of a user plane protocol stack of an X5interface between an LTE eNB and a 5G base station according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a charging method according to Embodiment 1 ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of another charging method according to Embodiment1 of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a user plane connection relationshipbetween network elements in a network architecture shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a charging method according to Embodiment 2 ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of another charging method according toEmbodiment 2 of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a charging method according to Embodiment 3 ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of another charging method according toEmbodiment 3 of the present disclosure;

FIG. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a communications apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a first access deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a core network apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 18 is a schematic structural diagram of a core network deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 19 is a schematic structural diagram of a core network apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 20 is a schematic structural diagram of a core network deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 21 is a flowchart of another charging method according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart of still another charging method according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 23 is a schematic structural diagram of another first access deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 24 is a schematic structural diagram of still another first accessdevice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 25 is a schematic structural diagram of another core network entityaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram of a communications system according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

A 5G communications system is used as an example. There is no corenetwork and there is no higher layer protocol stack in 5G. In animplementation solution, a communication of the 5G system is implementedby using an LTE-5G dual connectivity (DC) technology. LTE-5G-DC meansthat user equipment (UE) accesses a network via a Long Term Evolution(LTE) system, a control plane (CP) in the LTE system is reserved, andthen user plane (UP) data is communicated through both an LTE airinterface and an air interface of a 5G base station, that is, the userplane is anchored at an LTE Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP)layer to perform data split at per data packet or per bearer.Correspondingly, network architecture in an LTE-5G-DC scenario may be anarchitecture shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, and a mobility management entity(MME) and a serving gateway (SGW) are network elements of an LTE corenetwork. In the embodiments of this application, an air interfacetechnology used by the 5G base station is referred to as a 5G airinterface for short. For convenience, another naming manner may also beused, and this is not specifically limited.

It can be learned from an architectural diagram shown in FIG. 1 that UEaccesses an eNB through a 5G base station by using an X5 interface, andis further connected to an LTE core network. It can be obtained from anarchitectural diagram shown in FIG. 2 that UE directly access an LTEcore network through a 5G base station by using an Sx interface, andthere is a higher layer such as a PDCP/RRC layer in LTE. The X5interface is a newly defined interface between an LTE eNB and the 5Gbase station, and the Sx interface is a newly defined interface betweenan LTE MME and the 5G base station. The X5 interface and the Sxinterface may use other names to represent interfaces betweencorresponding network elements. An interface name is not specificallylimited.

Based on the network architecture shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, as shown inFIG. 3, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a chargingmethod for air interface transmission in a future evolved radio accesstechnology. A specific procedure is as follows:

Block 300: A first access device in a first radio network determinesthat a service carried by a user terminal is a service transferred byusing a second radio access technology, and sends, to a mobilitymanagement entity in the first radio network, a first message thatcarries a first indication.

The second radio access technology is an air interface access technologyused by a second radio network, and the first indication is used toindicate that the service carried by the user terminal is a servicetransferred by using the second radio access technology.

Optionally, block 300 may be: a second access device in a second radionetwork determines that a service carried by a user terminal is aservice transferred by using a second radio access technology, andsends, to a mobility management entity in a first radio network, a firstmessage that carries a first indication.

For example, the first access device is the LTE eNB in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2,and the second access device is the 5G base station in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2.

The first message may be any one of an initial terminal message, abearer modification indication message, or a path switch requestmessage.

The first access device and the second access device use different radioaccess technologies, and the first access device may be a base stationin the first radio network, or another network device of an accessnetwork side in the first radio network. The second access device is abase station in the second radio network, or another network device ofan access network side in the second radio network. For example, thefirst access device is a base station of an LTE standard, and the secondaccess device is a base station of a 5G standard.

Block 301: The mobility management entity receives the first messagesent by the first access device or a second access device when the firstaccess device or the second access device determines that the servicecarried by the user terminal is a service transferred by using thesecond radio access technology.

Block 302: The mobility management entity adds the first indication intoa second message, and sends the second message to a core network gatewayin the first radio network.

Optionally, the second message may be either a create session requestmessage or a bearer modification indication message.

Block 303: The core network gateway in the first radio network receivesthe second message sent by the mobility management entity in the firstradio network.

Block 304: When determining that the second message carries the firstindication, the core network gateway performs, according to the firstindication in the second message, charging on a service that is sent tothe second access device, carried by the user terminal, and transferredby using the second radio access technology.

As shown in FIG. 4, an embodiment of the present disclosure furtherprovides a flowchart of a charging method. In FIG. 4, the chargingmethod may be performed by a base station in a first radio network, oranother network device of an access network side in a first radionetwork. It should be noted that mutual reference may be made betweencharging methods in the embodiments in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. 6.

As shown in FIG. 4, the method includes the following blocks:

Block 400: A first access device in a first radio network determinesthat a service carried by a user terminal is a service transferred byusing a second radio access technology.

Block 401: The first access device sends, to a mobility managemententity in the first radio network, a first message that carries a firstindication, and sends, to a core network gateway in the first radionetwork through the mobility management entity, a second message thatcarries the first indication, where the first indication is used toindicate that the service carried by the user terminal uses the secondradio access technology.

Specifically, a first access device determines that a service carried bya user terminal is a service transferred by using a second radio accesstechnology includes the following three cases:

In a first case, when receiving an attach request message sent by theuser terminal by using the second radio access technology, the firstaccess device determines that the service carried by the user terminalis a service transferred by using the second radio access technology.

In the first case, the user terminal accesses a core network of thefirst radio network through a second radio network, and communicates acorresponding service by using the second radio access technology.

In the first case, before receiving the attach request message sent bythe user terminal by using the second radio access technology, the firstaccess device performs the following operation:

receiving, through a second access device in a second radio network, aradio resource control (RRC) connection request message sent by the userterminal, and feeding back an RRC connection setup message to the userterminal through the second access device, to complete RRC connectionsetup of the user terminal.

In the first case, when the first access device receives the attachrequest message sent by the user terminal by using the second radioaccess technology, the first message is an initial terminal message, andthe second message is a create session request message.

In a second case, the first access device sends an addition requestmessage to a second access device when determining to add the secondaccess device to perform data split, and receives an addition requestacknowledge message fed back by the second access device. The additionrequest acknowledge message carries related configuration information ofthe second access device, and the configuration information is used toenable the terminal to successfully access the second access device. Forexample, the configuration information includes a security algorithm, arandom access pilot code, an access parameter, and system information ofthe second access device. Then, the first access device adds the relatedconfiguration information of the second access device into an RRCconnection reconfiguration message, and sends the RRC connectionreconfiguration message to the user terminal. After receiving an RRCconnection reconfiguration complete message fed back by the userterminal, the first access device determines that the service carried bythe user terminal is a service transferred by using the second radioaccess technology.

In the second case, the user terminal communicates a correspondingservice by using the second radio access technology in a dualconnectivity scenario of the first radio network and the second radionetwork.

In a third case, after determining that the user terminal is handed overfrom a third access device that performs data split with a second accessdevice to the first access device, the first access device sends anaddition request message to the second access device when determining tocontinue performing data split through the second access device, wherethe first access device and the third access device use a same radioaccess technology. The first access device receives an addition requestacknowledge message fed back by the second access device, where theaddition request acknowledge message carries related configurationinformation of the second access device. The first access device addsthe related configuration information of the second access device intoan RRC connection reconfiguration message, and sends the RRC connectionreconfiguration message to the user terminal. After receiving an RRCconnection reconfiguration complete message fed back by the userterminal, the first access device determines that the service carried bythe user terminal is a service transferred by using the second radioaccess technology. The second access device is located in a second radionetwork that uses the second radio access technology, and the firstaccess device and the second access device use different radio accesstechnologies.

In the second case, before the first access device sends the additionrequest message to the second access device when determining to add thesecond access device to perform data split, the first access devicefurther performs the following operation:

determining that the user terminal directly and successfully accessesthe first radio network through the first access device; or

determining that the user terminal successfully accesses the first radionetwork through the second access device, and receiving an additionrequest message sent by the second access device.

In the second case, when the first access device receives the RRCconnection reconfiguration complete message fed back by the userterminal, and determines that the service carried by the user terminalis a service transferred by using the second radio access technology,the first message is a bearer modification indication message, and thesecond message is a bearer modification request message.

In the third case, the user terminal is handed over from the firstaccess device in the first radio network to the third access device inthe first radio network. Because the first access device is performingdata split with the second access device in the second network, when thesecond access device in the second network is enabled to continue thedata split process, a corresponding service is transferred by using thesecond radio access technology.

In the third case, when the first access device receives the RRCconnection reconfiguration complete message fed back by the userterminal, and determines that the service carried by the user terminalis a service transferred by using the second radio access technology,the first message is a path switch request message, and the secondmessage is a bearer modification request message or a create sessionrequest message.

As shown in FIG. 5, an embodiment of the present disclosure furtherprovides a flowchart of a charging method. In FIG. 5, the chargingmethod may be performed by a mobility management entity in a first radionetwork.

As shown in FIG. 5, the method includes the following blocks.

Block 500: A mobility management entity in a first radio networkreceives a first message sent by a first access device or a secondaccess device when the first access device or the second access devicedetermines that a service carried by a user terminal is a servicetransferred by using a second radio access technology respectively,where the first access device and the second access device use differentnetwork standards.

Block 501: When determining that the first message carries a firstindication, the mobility management entity adds the first indicationinto a second message, and sends the second message to a core networkgateway in the first radio network, where the first indication is usedto indicate that the service carried by the user terminal uses thesecond radio access technology.

Optionally, when the first message is an initial terminal message, thesecond message is a create session request message; when the firstmessage is a bearer modification indication message, the second messageis a bearer modification request message; and when the first message isa path switch request message, if the mobility management entitydetermines that the core network gateway of the user terminal in thefirst radio network needs to change, the second message is a createsession request message; or if the mobility management entity determinesthat the core network gateway of the user terminal in the first radionetwork does not need to change, the second message is a bearermodification request message.

As shown in FIG. 6, an embodiment of the present disclosure furtherprovides a flowchart of a charging method. In FIG. 6, the chargingmethod may be performed by a core network gateway in a first radionetwork.

As shown in FIG. 6, the method includes the following blocks.

Block 600: A core network gateway in a first radio network receives asecond message sent by a mobility management entity in the first radionetwork.

Block 601: When determining that the second message carries a firstindication, the core network gateway performs charging on a service thatis sent to a second access device, carried by a user terminal, andtransferred by using a second radio access technology, where the firstindication is used to indicate that the service carried by the userterminal uses the second radio access technology.

Optionally, the second message is a create session request message or abearer modification request message.

For example, the first radio network is an LTE network, and the secondradio network is a next generation mobile communications network, forexample, a fifth generation mobile communications system (The 5thGeneration, 5G). The following three embodiments are used to describe indetail an application scenario of the method in FIG. 3. An air interfacetechnology used in 5G is referred to as a 5G air interface for short.There is no core network in 5G, but a user plane is anchored at an LTEPDCP layer to perform data split at per data packet or per bearer.Therefore, only an LTE core network can be used to perform charging on aservice transferred by using a 5G access technology.

In the architecture in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, a 5G CP/UP plane is anchored atthe LTE PDCP layer. There is an RLC/MAC/PHY layer in 5G To be specific,after the CP plane passes the LTE PDCP layer, CP plane data is sent toUE through the RLC/MAC/PHY layer of the 5G air interface, and after theUP plane passes the LTE PDCP layer, UP plane data is sent to the UEthrough the RLC/MAC/PHY layer of the 5G air interface. User planeprotocol stacks and control plane protocol stacks of an LTE eNB and a 5Gbase station are respectively shown in FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B. An X5interface is a new interface between the LTE eNB and the 5G basestation, and the X5 interface is a newly defined interface. A user planeprotocol stack of the X5 interface is shown in FIG. 7C, and a controlplane protocol stack of the X5 interface is shown in FIG. 7D.

Embodiment 1

An application scenario in Embodiment 1 is used to resolve a chargingproblem caused when a user terminal accesses a 5G base station onlythrough a 5G network. FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 is a network architecturaldiagram of the application scenario. Network elements in the applicationscenario include UE, a 5G base station, and an eNB, namely, an LTE eNB,an MME, and a core network gateway in an LTE network. The gateway in aLTE core network includes a packet gateway (PGW) and a serving gateway(SGW). For a specific procedure, refer to FIG. 8.

In block 801 to block 806, the UE initiates radio resource control (RRC)connection setup to the LTE eNB through the 5G base station, andaccesses an LTE core network through the LTE eNB. Details are asfollows.

Block 801: The UE sends a radio resource connection request message tothe 5G base station.

Specifically, the radio resource connection request message may be anRRC connection request message in an LTE format, for example, an RRCconnection request message, or may be an RRC connection request messageadapting another defined format.

Block 802: The 5G base station forwards the radio resource connectionrequest message of the UE to the LTE eNB.

Block 803: The LTE eNB sends a radio resource connection setup messageto the 5G base station by using an X5 interface.

Specifically, the X5 interface is an interface between the LTE eNB andthe 5G base station, and the radio resource connection setup message maybe an RRC connection setup message. Specifically, the RRC connectionsetup message may be an RRC connection setup message in an LTE format,for example, an RRC connection setup message, or may be an RRCconnection setup message adapting another defined format.

Block 804: The 5G base station forwards the radio resource connectionsetup message of the LTE eNB to the UE.

Block 805: The UE sends an attach request message to the 5G basestation.

Specifically, the attach request message may be an attach requestmessage in an LTE format, for example, an attach request message, or maybe an attach request message adapting another defined format. Themessage is included in an RRC connection setup complete message, and theRRC connection setup complete message may be an RRC connection setupcomplete message in an LTE format, or may be an RRC connection setupcomplete message adapting another defined format.

Block 806: After receiving the attach request message of the UE, the 5Gbase station forwards the attach request message of the UE to the LTEeNB by using an interface between the 5G base station and the LTE eNB,that is, the X5 interface.

Block 807: The LTE eNB sends an initial terminal message (initial UEmessage) to the MME, where the attach request message is carried in theinitial UE message, the initial UE message carries a first indication,and the first indication is used to indicate that a service carried bythe UE is a service transferred by using a 5G air interface.

Block 808: After receiving the initial terminal message, the MMEperforms an authentication process, a non-access-stratum (NAS) securityprocess, and an update location process with the UE.

Authentication process: The authentication process is a process in whichthe MME obtains an authentication vector (four-tuple) from a homesubscriber server (HSS) subscribed by a user, and completesauthentication between a network and the UE with the UE.

NAS security process: The NAS security process is a process ofestablishing an encryption context and an integrity protection contextbetween the UE and the MME. After this process, encryption and integrityprotection are performed on a NAS message between the MME and the UE toensure signaling transmission security.

Update location process: After the authentication process and thesecurity process, the UE is allowed to access a network. In this case,the MME needs to register location information of the UE with the HSS,particularly an MME ID. This process is referred to as the updatelocation process. The update location process is a process ofinteraction between the MME and the HSS using the Diameter protocol andan S6a interface.

In block 809 and block 810, after security authentication ends, the MMEinitiates a session creation process to the SGW. Each node in thenetwork creates a bearer context for the UE, and creates a resourceprocess for data forwarding of user plane data. Details are as follows.

Block 809: The MME sends a create session request message to the SGW,where the create session request message carries the first indication.

Optionally, after the SGW receives the create session request message,the SGW sends the create session request message to the PGW.

Block 810: After receiving the create session request message thatcarries the first indication, the SGW returns a create session responsemessage to the MME to complete a session creation process.

Optionally, after the PGW receives the create session request message,the PGW sends the create session response message to the SGW.

Specifically, the SGW/PGW may perform, according to the first indicationin the create session request message, charging on the servicetransferred by using the 5G air interface.

In the foregoing Embodiment 1, when the UE accesses the LTE core networkthrough the 5G base station, the UE sends, to the MME through the LTEeNB, the initial terminal message that carries the first indication.After receiving the initial terminal message that carries the firstindication, the MME adds the first indication to the create sessionrequest message, and sends the create session request message to thegateway in the LTE core network, so that the gateway in the LTE corenetwork completes, according to the first indication, charging on aservice that is carried by the terminal and that is transferred by usingthe 5G air interface.

Optionally, in the network architecture shown in FIG. 2, after the UEsends an RRC connection request message in an LTE format to the 5G basestation, if there is an Sx interface between the 5G base station and theLTE MME, and the Sx interface is a newly defined interface between the5G base station and the LTE MME, the 5G base station may directly sendan initial terminal message to the MME by using the Sx interface. Theinitial terminal message carries an LTE indication, and the initialterminal message does not need to be forwarded by the LTE eNB in thiscase. Other subsequent Blocks are consistent with Block 808 to Block 810in FIG. 8 in Embodiment 1. For a specific procedure, refer to FIG. 9.

Block 901: The UE sends a radio resource connection request message tothe 5G base station.

Block 902: The 5G base station sends an initial terminal message to theMME.

Block 903: After receiving the initial terminal message, the MMEperforms an authentication process, a NAS security process, and anupdate location process with the UE.

Block 904: The MME sends a create session request message to the SGW,where the create session request message carries a first indication.

Block 905: After receiving the create session request message thatcarries the first indication, the SGW returns a create session responsemessage to the MME to complete a session creation process.

Embodiment 2

An application scenario in Embodiment 2 is used to resolve a problem ofcharging performed by a user terminal on a service transferred by usinga 5G air interface in a dual connectivity scenario of an LTE eNB and a5G base station. FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 is a network architectural diagram ofthe application scenario. Network elements in the application scenarioinclude UE, a 5G base station, and an eNB, an MME, and a core networkgateway in an LTE network, and the gateway in the LTE core networkincludes a PGW and an SGW.

The terminal uses a dual connectivity mode. Different bearer optionshave different configurations, and a user plane connection depends ondifferent bearer options. For the network architecture shown in FIG. 2,a user plane connection relationship between network elements is shownin FIG. 10.

For a split bearer (split bearers), an S1 interface is terminated at theLTE eNB, a PDCP data packet is transferred between the LTE eNB and a 5Gnew radio base station by using an X5 interface, and the X5 interface isan interface between the LTE eNB and the 5G base station.

For a 5G cell group bearer (5GCG bearers), the 5G base station isdirectly connected to the SGW by using an Sx interface, and the LTE eNBdoes not participate in user plane data transmission. The Sx interfaceis an interface between the 5G base station and an LTE core network, andis a newly defined interface in this application.

For the network structure shown in FIG. 1, because there is no interfaceconnection relationship between the 5G base station and the SGW, only asplit bearer can be implemented.

Referring to FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, there are two optional implementationsolutions for the 5G cell group bearer in a dual connectivity mode.

Specifically, a specific procedure of a solution 1 is shown in FIG. 11.

In block 1101 to block 1106, the LTE eNB determines to add the 5G basestation to perform data split.

Details are as follows:

Block 1101: After the UE implements successful access the LTE eNB, theLTE eNB determines to add the 5G base station to perform data split,that is, send a 5G base station addition request (for example, 5G AIaddition request) message to the 5G base station.

Block 1102: After receiving the addition request message, the 5G basestation returns a 5G base station addition request response (forexample, 5G AI addition request ACK) message to the LTE eNB, where theaddition request response message may include related configurationinformation of the 5G base station.

Block 1103: After receiving the addition request response message, theLTE eNB sends an RRC connection reconfiguration (for example, RRCconnection reconfiguration) message to the UE, where the RRC connectionreconfiguration message includes the related configuration informationof the 5G base station.

Block 1104: After receiving the RRC connection reconfiguration message,the UE accepts the related configuration of the 5G base station, andreturns an RRC connection reconfiguration complete message to the LTEeNB; and if the UE does not accept the configuration, the UE returns anRRC reconfiguration failure message to the LTE eNB.

Block 1105: After receiving the RRC connection reconfiguration completemessage sent by the UE, the LTE eNB returns a 5G base stationreconfiguration complete message to the 5G base station. This Block isoptional.

Block 1106: The UE performs a random access process to the 5G basestation. A sequence of this block, block 1104, and block 1105 is notlimited.

Block 1107: For a 5G cell group bearer, the LTE eNB sends a bearermodification indication (eRAB modification indication) message to theLTE MME to notify the MME of a bearer path change, where the bearermodification indication message carries a first indication.

The first indication is used to indicate that a service carried by theUE is a service transferred by using a 5G air interface.

Block 1108: After the MME receives the bearer modification indicationmessage, the MME sends a bearer modification request (for example,bearer modification request) message to the SGW, where the bearermodification request message carries the first indication, and afterreceiving the bearer modification request message, the SGW returns abearer modification response (for example, bearer modification response)message to the MME.

In this block, the SGW may perform traffic statistics collectionaccording to the first indication. For example, if the SGW offloads somebearers for data transmission with the UE by using the 5G air interface,the SGW may perform charging on the bearers according to the firstindication in a traffic charging manner or a time charging manner.

Specifically, because the SGW can perform only bearer splitting, thecharging is performed at per bearer.

Optionally, if the SGW receives a ULI (user location info) informationelement in the received bearer modification request message (forexample, bearer modification request), the SGW needs to send the bearermodification request message (for example, bearer modification request)to the PGW, and the PGW returns the bearer modification response message(for example, bearer modification response) to the SGW. The bearermodification request message needs to carry the first indication, sothat the PGW performs, according to the first indication, charging onthe service that is carried by the UE and that is transferred by usingthe 5G air interface.

Specifically, the SGW/PGW may perform, according to the first indicationin the bearer modification request message, charging on the servicetransferred by using the 5G air interface.

Block 1109: The MME returns a bearer modification acknowledge (forexample, eRAB modification confirmation) message to the LTE eNB.

Specifically, a specific procedure of a solution 2 is shown in FIG. 12.

Block 1200: The UE accesses the 5G base station by using a 5G airinterface, and then accesses an LTE core network through the LTE eNB byusing an X5 interface.

Block 1201: The 5G base station requests the LTE eNB to add the 5G basestation to perform data split, and sends a 5G base station additionrequest message to the LTE eNB.

Subsequent blocks are similar to those described in the solution 1.Block 1106 in the solution 1 is excluded because the UE has accessed the5G base station in block 1200.

Block 1202: After receiving the addition request message sent by the 5Gbase station, the LTE eNB determines to add the 5G base station toperform data split, and sends a 5G base station addition request messageto the 5G base station.

Block 1203: After receiving the addition request message, the 5G basestation returns a 5G base station addition request response (forexample, 5G AI addition request ACK) message to the LTE eNB, where theaddition request response message may include related configurationinformation of the 5G base station.

Block 1204: After receiving the addition request response message, theLTE eNB sends an RRC connection reconfiguration message to the UE, wherethe RRC connection reconfiguration message includes the relatedconfiguration information of the 5G base station.

Block 1205: After receiving the RRC connection reconfiguration message,the UE accepts the related configuration of the 5G base station, andreturns an RRC connection reconfiguration complete message to the LTEeNB; and if the UE does not accept the configuration, the UE returns anRRC reconfiguration failure message to the LTE eNB.

Block 1206: After receiving the RRC connection reconfiguration completemessage sent by the UE, the LTE eNB returns a 5G base stationreconfiguration complete message to the 5G base station. This Block isoptional.

Block 1207: For a 5G cell group bearer, the LTE eNB sends a bearermodification indication message to notify the MME of a bearer pathchange, where the bearer modification indication message carries a firstindication.

Block 1208: After receiving the bearer modification indication message,the MME sends a bearer modification request message to the SGW, wherethe bearer modification request message carries the first indication,and after receiving the bearer modification request message, the SGWreturns a bearer modification response message to the MME.

In this block, the SGW may perform traffic statistics collectionaccording to the first indication. For example, if the SGW offloads somebearers to the 5G base station, the SGW may perform charging on thebearers according to the first indication in a traffic charging manneror a time charging manner.

Specifically, because the SGW can perform only bearer splitting, thecharging is performed at per bearer.

Optionally, if the SGW receives a ULI (user location info) informationelement in the received bearer modification request message (forexample, bearer modification request), the SGW needs to send the bearermodification request message (for example, bearer modification request)to the PGW, and the PGW returns the bearer modification response message(for example, bearer modification response) to the SGW. The bearermodification request message needs to carry the first indication, sothat the PGW performs, according to the first indication, charging onthe service that is carried by the UE and that is transferred by usingthe 5G air interface.

Specifically, the SGW/PGW may perform, according to the first indicationin the bearer modification request message, charging on the servicetransferred by using the 5G air interface.

Block 1209: The MME returns a bearer modification acknowledge message tothe LTE eNB.

For a dual connectivity mode of a split bearer, in the solution 1 or thesolution 2, after the UE returns the RRC connection reconfigurationcomplete message to the LTE eNB, no subsequent block is performed.Traffic statistics collection is directly performed on the LTE eNB.Traffic information is reported to the LTE MME/SGW/PGW after thestatistics collection, so that charging is performed on the service thatis carried by the UE and that is transferred by using the 5G airinterface.

In the foregoing Embodiment 2, in a dual connectivity scenario of the 5Gbase station and the LTE eNB, the UE sends, to the MME through the LTEeNB, the bearer modification indication message that carries the firstindication, and after receiving the bearer modification indicationmessage that carries the first indication, the MME adds the firstindication to the bearer modification request message, and sends thebearer modification request message to the gateway in the LTE corenetwork, so that the gateway in the LTE core network completes,according to the first indication, charging on the service that iscarried by the UE and that is transferred by using the 5G air interface.

Embodiment 3

An application scenario in Embodiment 3 is applicable to a UE movingscenario. UE is handed over from a source LTE eNB to a target LTE eNB,and the source LTE eNB is performing data split with a 5G base station.In this case, after the UE moves to the target LTE eNB, to ensure datasplit continuity, the target LTE eNB determines to add the 5G basestation in a handover process to continue performing data split, and inthe data split process, the target LTE eNB performs charging on aservice transferred by using a 5G air interface. Adding the 5G basestation to continue the data split process is performed in a handoverpreparation process. FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 is a network architectural diagramof the application scenario. Network elements in the applicationscenario include UE, a 5G base station, and an eNB, an MME, and a corenetwork gateway in an LTE network, and the gateway in the LTE corenetwork includes a PGW and an SGW.

The handover includes three phases: a handover preparation phase, ahandover execution phase, and a handover completion phase. In thehandover completion phase, a message is exchanged with an LTE corenetwork.

As shown in FIG. 13, in block 1301 and block 1302, the UE determines toperform handover, and enters the handover preparation phase and thehandover execution phase.

In this process, the UE is handed over from the source LTE eNB to thetarget LTE eNB, and the source LTE eNB is performing data split with the5G base station. After the UE is handed over to the target LTE eNB, thetarget LTE eNB determines to add the 5G base station to continue thedata split process.

In the handover preparation process, referring to Embodiment 2, thesource eNB sends a handover request message to the target eNB, and thetarget eNB sends an addition request message to the 5G base station. Inthe handover execution process, for example, the UE performs a randomaccess process to the target LTE eNB and the 5G base station.

For the handover procedure, refer to a related procedure of handoverbetween LTE eNBs with an LTE X2 interface.

Block 1303: After the handover is performed, in the handover completionphase, the target LTE eNB sends a path switch request (for example, pathswitch request) message to the MME, where the path switch requestmessage is used to notify the MME that a cell of the UE has changed, andthe MME determines a specific SGW for continuing serving the UE, andre-allocates an SGW. The path switch request message carries a firstindication.

The first indication is used to indicate that a service carried by theUE is a service transferred by using a 5G air interface.

In block 1304 and block 1305, after receiving the path switch message,the MME determines whether to change the SGW.

Optionally, if the SGW does not change, the following block isperformed.

Block 1304: The MME sends a bearer modification request (for example,bearer modification request) message to the source SGW/PGW, where thebearer modification request message carries the first indication.

Specifically, the SGW/PGW may perform, according to the first indicationin the message, charging on the service transferred by using the 5G airinterface.

Block 1305: After a downlink data transmission tunnel of the source SGWis handed over to the target LTE eNB, the SGW sends a bearermodification response (for example, bearer modification response)message to the MME, similar to Embodiment 2.

Optionally, if the source SGW receives a user location (user locationinfo, ULI) information element in the bearer modification requestmessage (for example, bearer modification request), the source SGW needsto send the bearer modification request message (for example, bearermodification request) to the PGW, and the PGW returns the bearermodification response message (for example, bearer modificationresponse) to the SGW.

Block 1306: The MME returns a path switch request acknowledge (forexample, path switch request ack) message to the target LTE eNB.

Block 1307: The target LTE eNB sends a release resource request (forexample, Release resource) message to the source LTE eNB.

Optionally, as shown in FIG. 14, if the SGW changes, the followingblocks are performed.

Block 1401 to block 1403 are exactly the same as block 1301 to block1303 in FIG. 13, and details are not described herein again.

Block 1404: The MME reallocates a new SGW, and sends a create sessionrequest (for example, create session request) message to the newSGW/PGW, where the create session message carries the first indication.

Block 1405: The SGW/PGW receives the create session request message sentby the MME, and returns a create session response (for example, createsession response) message to the MME, similar to Embodiment 1.

Specifically, the SGW/PGW may perform, according to the first indicationin the create session request message, charging on the servicetransferred by using the 5G air interface.

Block 1406: The MME returns a path switch request acknowledge (forexample, path switch request ack) message to the target LTE eNB.

Block 1407: The target LTE eNB sends a release resource request (forexample, Release resource) message to the source LTE eNB.

Further, FIG. 14 further includes block 1408 and block 1409, that is,the MME sends a release session request message to the source SGW, andreceives a release session acknowledge message returned by the sourceSGW.

In the foregoing Embodiment 3, after the UE is handed over from thesource LTE eNB that is performing data split with the 5G base station tothe target LTE eNB, to ensure data split continuity, the target LTE eNBdetermines to add the 5G base station to continue performing data split.The target LTE eNB sends, to the MME, the path switch request messagethat carries the first indication. After receiving the path switchrequest message that carries the first indication, the MME adds thefirst indication to the bearer modification request message or thecreate session request message and sends the bearer modification requestmessage or the create session request message to the gateway in the LTEcore network, so that the gateway in the LTE core network completes,according to the first indication, charging on the service that iscarried by the UE and that is transferred by using the 5G air interface.

The foregoing mainly describes the solutions provided in the embodimentsof the present disclosure from the perspective of interaction betweennetwork elements. It can be understood that, to implement the foregoingfunctions, each network element such as the first access device, themobility management entity in the first radio network, or the corenetwork gateway in the first radio network includes correspondinghardware structures and/or software modules for performing variousfunctions. A person skilled in the art should be easily aware that, theunits and algorithm blocks in the examples described with reference tothe embodiments disclosed in this specification may be implemented byhardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether thefunctions are performed by hardware or computer software drivinghardware depends on particular applications and design constraintconditions of the technical solutions. A person skilled in the art mayuse different methods to implement the described functions for eachparticular application, but it should not be considered that theimplementation goes beyond the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a communications apparatusof a network side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.The apparatus may be configured to perform the method shown in FIG. 4.The communications apparatus may be a base station or an apparatusinstalled in the base station, or another apparatus that can communicatewith the base station.

Referring to FIG. 15, the apparatus includes:

a processing unit 150, configured to determine that a service carried bya user terminal is a service transferred by using a second radio accesstechnology; and

a transceiver unit 151, configured to: send, to a mobility managemententity in a first radio network, a first message that carries a firstindication, and send, to a core network gateway in the first radionetwork through the mobility management entity, a second message thatcarries the first indication, where the first indication is used toindicate that the service carried by the user terminal is a servicetransferred by using the second radio access technology.

Optionally, when determining that the service carried by the userterminal is a service transferred by using the second radio accesstechnology, the processing unit 150 is specifically configured to:

when receiving an attach request message sent by the user terminal byusing the second radio access technology, determine that the servicecarried by the user terminal is a service transferred by using thesecond radio access technology.

Optionally, when the processing unit 150 determines that the servicecarried by the user terminal is a service transferred by using thesecond radio access technology, the transceiver unit 151 is specificallyconfigured to:

receive, through a second access device in a second radio network, aradio resource control RRC connection request message sent by the userterminal, and feed back an RRC connection setup message to the userterminal through the second access device, to complete RRC connectionsetup of the user terminal, where the second access device is located inthe second radio network that uses the second radio access technology,and the network device and the second access device use different radioaccess technologies.

Optionally, when determining that the service carried by the userterminal is a service transferred by using the second radio accesstechnology, the processing unit 150 is specifically configured to:

when determining to add a second access device to perform data split,send an addition request message to the second access device by usingthe transceiver unit 151;

receive, by using the transceiver unit 151, an addition requestacknowledge message fed back by the second access device, where theaddition request acknowledge message carries related configurationinformation of the second access device;

add the related configuration information of the second access device toan RRC connection reconfiguration message, and send the RRC connectionreconfiguration message to the user terminal by using the transceiverunit 151; and

after receiving, by using the transceiver unit 151, an RRC connectionreconfiguration complete message fed back by the user terminal,determine that the service carried by the user terminal is a servicetransferred by using the second radio access technology.

Optionally, before the processing unit 150 sends, when determining toadd the second access device to perform data split, the addition requestmessage to the second access device by using the transceiver unit 151,the processing unit 150 is further configured to:

determine that the user terminal accesses the first radio networkthrough the first access device; or

determine that the user terminal accesses the first radio networkthrough the second access device, and receive, by using the transceiverunit 151, an addition request message sent by the second access device.

Optionally, when determining that the service carried by the userterminal is a service transferred by using the second radio accesstechnology, the processing unit 150 is specifically configured to:

after determining that the user terminal is handed over from a thirdaccess device that performs data split with a second access device tothe first access device, when determining to continue performing datasplit through the second access device, send an addition request messageto the second access device by using the transceiver unit 151, where thefirst access device and the third access device use a same radio accesstechnology;

receive, by using the transceiver unit 151, an addition requestacknowledge message fed back by the second access device, where theaddition request acknowledge message includes related configurationinformation of the second access device;

add the related configuration information of the second access device toan RRC connection reconfiguration message, and send the RRC connectionreconfiguration message to the user terminal by using the transceiverunit 151; and

after receiving, by using the transceiver unit 151, an RRC connectionreconfiguration complete message fed back by the user terminal,determine that the service carried by the user terminal is a servicetransferred by using the second radio access technology.

FIG. 16 is a possible schematic structural diagram of the first accessdevice in the foregoing embodiments.

The device includes a transmitter/receiver 1601, a controller/processor1602, a memory 1603, and a communications unit 1604. Thetransmitter/receiver 1601 is configured to support the device ininformation receiving and sending with the UE in the foregoingembodiments, and support the UE in performing wireless communicationwith other UE. The controller/processor 1602 performs various functionsfor communicating with the UE. In an uplink, an uplink signal from theUE is received by using an antenna, demodulated by thetransmitter/receiver 1601, and further processed by thecontroller/processor 1602, to restore service data and signalinginformation that are sent by the UE. In a downlink, service data and asignaling message are processed by the controller/processor 1602 anddemodulated by the transmitter/receiver 1601 to generate a downlinksignal, and the downlink signal is transferred to the UE by using theantenna. The controller/processor 1602 further performs a processingprocess of the device in FIG. 3 to FIG. 14 and/or another process in thetechnology described in this application. The memory 1603 is configuredto store program code and data of the device. The communications unit1604 is configured to support the device in communicating with anothernetwork entity. For example, the communications unit 1604 is configuredto support the device in communicating with another communicationsnetwork entity shown in FIG. 3, such as an MME, an SGW, and/or a PGW ina core network EPC.

It can be understood that FIG. 16 shows merely a simplified design ofthe device. In actual application, the device may include any quantityof transmitters, receivers, processors, controllers, memories,communications units, and the like, and all devices that can implementthe present disclosure shall fall within the protection scope of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a communications apparatusof a network side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.The apparatus may be configured to perform the method shown in FIG. 5.The communications apparatus may be a mobility management entity or anapparatus installed in the mobility management entity, or anotherapparatus that can communicate with the mobility management entity.

Referring to FIG. 17, the apparatus includes:

a transceiver unit 171, configured to receive a first message sent by afirst access device or a second access device when the first accessdevice or the second access device determines that a service carried bya user terminal is a service transferred by using a second radio accesstechnology, where the second access device is located in a second radionetwork that uses the second radio access technology, and the firstaccess device and the second access device use different radio accesstechnologies; and

a processing unit 170, configured to: when determining that the firstmessage carries a first indication, add the first indication to a secondmessage, and send the second message to a core network gateway in afirst radio network by using the transceiver unit 171, where the firstindication is used to indicate that the service carried by the userterminal uses the second radio access technology.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a structural design of a core networkdevice in the first radio network in the foregoing embodiments, and thecore network device may be an MME.

The core network device includes a controller/processor 1802, a memory1801, and a transceiver 1803. The controller/processor 1802 isconfigured to: control and manage an action of the core network device,and execute various functions to support a communication service of aUE. For example, the controller/processor 1802 is configured to supportthe core network device in performing the process in FIG. 5, and/oranother process in the technology described in this specification. Thememory 1801 is configured to store program code and data for the corenetwork device. The transceiver 1803 is configured to supportcommunication with another network entity, for example, communicationwith the communications unit 1604 of the first access device in FIG. 16,and for another example, communication with a network entity shown inFIG. 20.

FIG. 19 is a schematic structural diagram of a communications apparatusof a network side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.The apparatus may be configured to perform the method shown in FIG. 5.The communications apparatus may be a core network gateway or anapparatus installed in the core network gateway, or another apparatusthat can communicate with the core network gateway.

Referring to FIG. 19, the apparatus includes:

a transceiver unit 191, configured to receive a second message sent by amobility management entity in a first radio network; and

a processing unit 190, configured to: when determining that the secondmessage carries a first indication, perform charging on a service thatis sent to a second access device, carried by a user terminal, andtransferred by using a second radio access technology, where the firstindication is used to indicate that the service carried by the userterminal is a service transferred by using the second radio accesstechnology.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of a structural design of a core networkdevice in the first radio network in the foregoing embodiments, and thecore network device may be a core network gateway.

The core network device includes a controller/processor 2002, a memory2001, and a transceiver 2003. The controller/processor 2002 isconfigured to: control and manage an action of the core network device,and execute various functions to support a communication service of UE.For example, the controller/processor 2002 is configured to support thecore network device in performing the process in FIG. 6, and/or anotherprocess in the technology described in this specification. The memory2001 is configured to store program code and data for the core networkdevice. The transceiver 2003 is configured to support communication withanother network entity, for example, communication with the transceiver1803 of the device in FIG. 18.

The controller/processor for performing functions of the base station,the UE, the first access device, or the core network apparatus in thepresent disclosure may be a central processing unit (CPU), a generalpurpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA) or another programmable logical device, a transistorlogical device, a hardware component, or any combination thereof. Thecontroller/processor may implement or execute various example logicalblocks, modules, and circuits that are described with reference to thecontent disclosed in the present disclosure. The processor may also be acombination of computing functions, for example, a combination of one ormore microprocessors or a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor.

In view of the above, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, whendetermining that the service carried by the user terminal is a servicetransferred by using the second radio access technology, the firstaccess device in the first radio network sends, to the mobilitymanagement entity in the first radio network, the first message thatcarries the first indication, and sends, to the core network gateway inthe first radio network through the mobility management entity, thesecond message that carries the first indication, where the firstindication is used to indicate that the service carried by the userterminal uses the second radio access technology. When determining thatthe second message carries the first indication, the core networkgateway performs charging on the service that is sent to the secondaccess device, carried by the user terminal, and transferred by usingthe second radio access technology. In this way, a charging function ona service carried by using a new access technology that does not includea core network can be implemented by the core network gateway in thefirst radio network.

As shown in FIG. 21, an embodiment of the present disclosure furtherprovides a charging method, including blocks S2101 and S2102.

S2101: A first access device performs traffic statistics collection on aservice of a user terminal transferred by a second access device.

Optionally, the first access device and the second access device may usedifferent radio access technologies. For example, in an LTE-WLANaggregation (LWA) scenario, the first access device is an evolved NodeB(eNodeB/eNB) in an LTE network, and the second access device is awireless local area network termination (WT) in a WLAN. A communicationsinterface exists between the eNB and the WT, and includes a data planeinterface and a control plane interface. The WT manages at least oneaccess point (AP). The WT may perform data split on a service of theuser terminal transferred by the eNB, that is, the WT communicates someservices of the user terminal to reduce load of the eNB. The eNB mayperform traffic statistics collection on a service of the user terminaltransferred by the WT. For another example, in an LTE-5G dualconnectivity scenario, the first access device may be a base station(eNB) in an LTE network, and the second access device may be a basestation device in a 5G network. For detailed description of the LTE-5Gdual connectivity scenario, refer to related content in anotherembodiment of the present disclosure. Details are not described hereinagain.

Optionally, the first access device and the second access device may usea same radio access technology. For example, in a dual connectivity (DC)scenario, the first access device is a master eNodeB (MeNB, master eNB),and the second access device is a secondary eNodeB (SeNB, secondaryeNB). The SeNB may perform data split on a service of the user terminaltransferred by the MeNB, that is, the SeNB communicates some services ofthe user terminal to reduce load of the MeNB. The MeNB may performtraffic statistics collection on a service of the user terminaltransferred by the SeNB. The MeNB and the SeNB are base station devicesof a same standard, for example, an LTE standard.

Optionally, the service transferred by the second access device mayinclude any one or more of the following:

an Internet Protocol IP header or a TCP/UDP header in a data packet, aTCP (Transmission Control Protocol) control packet, and a retransmitteddata packet.

Optionally, performing traffic statistics collection by the first accessdevice may be specifically at per bearer. If the first access device andthe second access device support network slicing, statistics collectionmay be at per bearer of each slice or at per slice of each bearer.Further, if the first access device has a deep packet inspection (DPI)function, the first access device may perceive a specific service, todifferentiate different traffic used by different services.

S2102: The first access device sends a traffic indication message to acore network entity, where the traffic indication message includestraffic information of the service, and the traffic information is usedfor the core network entity to perform charging on the service.

The traffic information may be a traffic statistics value of a servicethat is offloaded by the first access device to the second accessdevice.

Optionally, in another embodiment of the present disclosure, the firstaccess device may determine to transfer some services of the userterminal to the second access device for transmission, and performtraffic statistics collection on the service transferred to the secondaccess device.

S2103: The core network entity performs, based on the trafficinformation in the received traffic indication message, charging on theservice of the user terminal transferred by the second access device.

Optionally, the core network entity may be an MME and/or an SGW.Optionally, the MME or the SGW may separately perform charging, or theMME and the SGW may cooperate to complete charging.

Optionally, a specific type of the traffic indication message is notspecifically limited in this embodiment of the present disclosure. Forexample, the traffic indication message may be a newly created S1interface message that is specially used to transmit the trafficinformation. An S1 interface is an interface between the first accessdevice and the core network entity. Alternatively, the trafficindication message may be an existing message transferred between thefirst access device and the core network device. For example, in an LWAscenario, the eNB may report the traffic information to the MME by usingan existing radio access bearer modification indication (E-UTRAN RadioAccess Bearer, ERAB modification indication) message, then the MMEreports the traffic information to the SGW by using a bearermodification message, and the SGW completes charging.

FIG. 22 is a schematic signaling flowchart of the charging methodprovided in the embodiment in FIG. 21. For clear description, an examplein which a first access device is an eNB, and a second access device isa WT is used for description. It can be understood that a specific typeof an access device is not limited in this embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

S2201: The eNB sends a WT addition request message to the WT to requestthe WT to perform data split for the eNB.

S2202: The WT sends a WT addition request acknowledge message to theeNB.

The WT addition request acknowledge message includes relatedconfiguration information of the WT, and the configuration informationmay specifically include bearer information, mobility controlinformation, a mobility set, and the like, and the mobile set mayinclude a list of identifiers of accessible APs.

S2203: The eNB sends an RRC connection reconfiguration message to a userterminal.

The RRC connection reconfiguration message includes the relatedconfiguration information of the WT.

S2204: The user terminal sends an RRC connection reconfigurationcomplete message to the eNB.

After sending the RRC connection reconfiguration complete message, theuser terminal may enter an LWA working mode by using the relatedconfiguration information of the WT. For example, the user terminal isassociated with one of the accessible APs based on the mobile setincluded in the configuration information in block 2202.

S2205. After receiving the RRC connection reconfiguration completemessage fed back by the user terminal, the eNB determines to transfersome services of the user terminal to the WT for transmission.

S2206: The WT sends a WT association acknowledge message to the eNB.

S2207: The user terminal sends a WLAN connection status report to theeNB.

S2207 is an optional block.

S2208: The eNB performs traffic statistics collection on the service ofthe user terminal transferred to the WT for transmission.

S2209: The eNB sends a traffic indication message to an MME.

S2210: The MME sends the traffic indication message to an SGW.

S2211: The SGW obtains traffic information in the traffic indicationmessage, and performs charging on the service of the user terminal.

For detailed description of the traffic indication message and thetraffic information, refer to related description in another embodimentof the present disclosure, for example, the embodiment shown in FIG. 21.Details are not described herein again.

According to the charging method provided in this embodiment of thedisclosure, the first access device performs traffic statisticscollection on a service that is offloaded to the second access device,and the traffic indication message is used to instruct a core networkdevice to perform charging on such offloaded services, to implementseparate charging on the offloaded service, and reduce load of a corenetwork.

FIG. 23 is a schematic structural diagram of a first access deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The first accessdevice may be configured to perform related blocks of the first accessdevice in the embodiment shown in FIG. 21 or FIG. 22. Specifically, thefirst access device may include:

a processing unit 2301, configured to perform traffic statisticscollection on a service of a user terminal transferred by a secondaccess device; and

a sending unit 2302, configured to send a traffic indication message toa core network entity, where the traffic indication message includestraffic information of the service, and the traffic information is usedfor the core network entity to perform charging on the service.

A type of the first access device and a type of the second access deviceare not specifically limited in this embodiment of the presentdisclosure. For example, in an LWA scenario, the first access device maybe an eNB in an LTE network, and the second access device is a WT in aWLAN. In a DC scenario, the first access device may be an MeNB, and thesecond access device may be an SeNB; or in an LTE-5G dual connectivityscenario, the first access device is an eNB, and the second accessdevice is a 5G base station device. For detailed description, refer torelated content in another embodiment of the present disclosure, forexample, the embodiment shown in FIG. 21. Details are not describedherein again.

Optionally, the processing unit 2301 may be specifically configured to:determine to transfer some services of the user terminal to the secondaccess device for transmission, and perform traffic statisticscollection on the service transferred to the second access device.

Optionally, in another embodiment of the present disclosure, the firstaccess device may further include a receiving unit 2303. It can beunderstood that a function of the receiving unit 2303 and a function ofthe sending unit 2302 may be implemented by a transceiver unit.

In this embodiment, the sending unit 2302 is specifically configured tosend an addition request message to the second access device, where theaddition request message is used to indicate that the first accessdevice determines to transfer a service to the second access device.

The receiving unit 2303 is configured to receive an addition requestacknowledge message fed back by the second access device, where theaddition request acknowledge message includes related configurationinformation of the second access device.

The sending unit 2302 is further configured to send a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) connection reconfiguration message to the user terminal,where the RRC connection reconfiguration message includes the relatedconfiguration information of the second access device.

The receiving unit 2303 is further configured to receive an RRCconnection reconfiguration complete message fed back by the userterminal.

The processing unit 2301 is further configured to transfer, based on theRRC connection reconfiguration complete message, some services of theuser terminal to the second access device for transmission.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, in hardwareimplementation, a receiver may perform the function of the receivingunit 2302, and a transmitter may perform the function of the sendingunit 2303, or the function of the receiving unit 2302 and the functionof the sending unit 2303 may be implemented by a transceiver or acommunications module. The processing unit 2301 may be built in orindependent of a processor of a base station in a hardware form, or maybe stored in a memory of the base station in a software form, so thatthe processor invokes the processing unit 2301 to perform an operationcorresponding to each of the foregoing modules.

FIG. 24 is a simplified schematic diagram of a possible design structureof the first access device in the foregoing embodiments.

The first access device includes a processor 2402, a memory 2401, and acommunications module 2403. The processor 2402 is configured to: controland manage an action of a control device, and perform various functionsto support a communication service provided by the first access device.For example, the processor 1202 is configured to support the controldevice in performing an operation performed by the first access devicein FIG. 21 and FIG. 22, and/or another process in the technologydescribed in this specification. The memory 2401 is configured to storeprogram code and data for the apparatus. The communications module 2403is configured to support communication with another network entity, forexample, communication with a second access network device or a corenetwork entity.

It can be understood that FIG. 24 shows merely a simplified design ofthe control device. In actual application, the control device mayinclude any quantity of transmitters, receivers, processors,controllers, memories, communication modules, and the like. Details arenot described herein.

FIG. 25 is a schematic structural diagram of a core network entityaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The core networkentity may be configured to perform related blocks of the core networkentity in the embodiment shown in FIG. 21 or FIG. 22. Specifically, thecore network entity may specifically include:

a receiving unit 2501, configured to receive a traffic indicationmessage of a first access device, where the traffic indication messageincludes traffic information of a service of a user terminal transferredby a second access device; and

a processing unit 2502, configured to perform charging on the servicebased on the traffic information.

Optionally, the core network entity may be an MME and/or an SGW.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, in hardwareimplementation, a receiver or a communications module may perform afunction of the receiving unit 2501. The processing unit 2502 may bebuilt in or independent of a processor of a base station in a hardwareform, or may be stored in a memory of the base station in a softwareform, so that the processor invoke the processing unit 2501 to performan operation corresponding to each of the foregoing modules.

For detailed description of the first access device and the core networkentity provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure, refer torelated content in other embodiments of the present disclosure, forexample, related description of the embodiments shown in FIG. 21 andFIG. 22. Details are not described herein again.

According to the first access device and the core network entityprovided in this embodiment of the present disclosure, the first accessdevice performs traffic statistics collection on a service that isoffloaded to the second access device, and the traffic indicationmessage is used to instruct the core network device to perform chargingon such offloaded services, to implement separate charging on theoffloaded service, and reduce load of a core network.

FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram of a communications system according toan embodiment of the present disclosure. The communications systemincludes a first access device 2601, a second access device 2602, and acore network entity 2603. The first access device 2601 may communicatewith the core network entity 2603 by using an S1 interface, and thefirst access device 2601 and the second access device 2602 may directlyor indirectly communicate with each other.

The first access device 2601 is configured to: perform trafficstatistics collection on a service of a user terminal transferred by thesecond access device 2602, and send a traffic indication message to thecore network entity 2603, where the traffic indication message includestraffic information of the service.

The core network entity 2602 is configured to perform charging on theservice based on the traffic information.

The first access device 2601 may be the first access device shown inFIG. 23 or FIG. 24, and the core network entity may be the core networkentity shown in FIG. 25. Details are not described herein again.

According to the communications system provided in this embodiment ofthe present disclosure, the first access device performs trafficstatistics collection on a service that is offloaded to the secondaccess device, and the traffic indication message is used to instructthe core network device to perform charging on such offloaded services,to implement separate charging on the offloaded service, and reduce loadof a core network.

A person of ordinary skill in the art may understand that all or a partof the blocks in each of the foregoing methods of the embodiments may beimplemented by a program instructing a processor. The foregoing programmay be stored in a computer readable storage medium. The storage mediummay be a non-transitory medium, such as a random access memory, aread-only memory, a flash memory, a hard disk, a solid-state drive, amagnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical disc, or any combinationthereof.

The present disclosure is described with reference to the flowchartsand/or block diagrams of the method and the device according to theembodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood thatcomputer program instructions may be used to implement each process andeach block in the flowcharts and the block diagrams and a combination ofa process and a block in the flowcharts and the block diagrams. Thesecomputer program instructions may be provided for a general-purposecomputer, a dedicated computer, an embedded processor, or a processor ofany other programmable data processing device to generate a machine, sothat the instructions executed by a computer or a processor of any otherprogrammable data processing device generate an apparatus forimplementing a specific function in one or more processes in theflowcharts and in one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

The foregoing descriptions are merely examples of embodiments of thepresent disclosure, but are not intended to limit the protection scopeof the present disclosure. Any variation or replacement readily figuredout by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosedin the present disclosure shall fall within the protection scope of thepresent disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the presentdisclosure shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A communications system, comprising: a masterbase station, a secondary base station, and a core network device;wherein a control plane connection is reserved between the master basestation and a user terminal, and user plane data is transferred throughthe master base station or the secondary base station; wherein themaster base station is configured to: gather traffic statisticsinformation of a service of the user terminal, wherein the trafficstatistics information indicates an amount of data that is transferredbetween the user terminal and the secondary base station wherein theamount of data is a part or all of data of the service; and send amessage to the core network device via a control plane interface betweenthe core network device and the master base station, wherein the messagecomprises the traffic statistics information; and the core networkdevice is configured to: calculate a charge on the service according tothe traffic statistics information.
 2. The communications systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the amount of data indicated by thetraffic statistics information is the amount of data of the service thatis migrated from the master base station to the secondary base station.3. The communications system according to claim 1, wherein the masterbase station is further configured to: send an indication to the corenetwork device, wherein the indication indicates that the amount of dataof the service is transferred between the user terminal and the masterbase station through the secondary base station.
 4. The communicationssystem according to claim 1, wherein the data of the service comprisesdata of a bearer of the user terminal, and the bearer is a split bearer.5. The communications system according to claim 4, wherein the masterbase station is further configured to: migrate the data of the bearer tothe secondary base station for transmission; and gather trafficstatistics information of the data of the bearer.
 6. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the master base station is furtherconfigured to: send a first message to the secondary base station,wherein the first message indicates that the master base stationdetermines to migrate an amount of data of the service to the secondarybase station; receive a response to the first message from the secondarybase station, wherein the response to the first message comprisesconfiguration information of the secondary base station; send a secondmessage to the user terminal, wherein the second message comprises theconfiguration information of the secondary base station; and migrate theamount of data of the service to the second access network fortransmission after receiving a response to the second message from theuser terminal.
 7. The communications system according to claim 6,wherein the first message is a request message for adding the secondarybase station, and the second message is a radio resource control (RRC)connection reconfiguration message.
 8. The communications systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the master base station and the secondarybase station use different radio access technologies (RATs).
 9. Thecommunications system according to claim 1, wherein the trafficstatistics information is gathered on a per bearer basis.
 10. Thecommunications system according to claim 1, wherein the core networkdevice comprises a first entity and a second entity, the first entity isconfigured to receive the message from the master base station, and thesecond entity is configured to calculate the charge.
 11. A core networkdevice, comprising: a first entity and a second entity; wherein thefirst entity is configured to receive a message from a master basestation via a control plane interface between the first entity and themaster base station, and forward the message to the second entity;wherein the message comprises traffic statistics information of aservice of a user terminal, the traffic statistics information indicatesan amount of data of the service that is transferred between the userterminal and a secondary base station; and the second entity isconfigured to calculate a charge on the service according to the trafficstatistics information.
 12. The core network device according to claim11, wherein the amount of data indicated by the traffic statisticsinformation is the amount of data of the service that is migrated fromthe master base station to the secondary base station.
 13. The corenetwork device according to claim 11, wherein the first entity isfurther configured to receive an indication from the master basestation, wherein the indication indicates that amount of data of theservice is transferred between the user terminal and the master basestation through the secondary base station.
 14. The core network deviceaccording to claim 11, wherein the data of the service comprises data ofa bearer of the user terminal, and the bearer is a split bearer.
 15. Anon-transitory medium storing a computer program executable by aprocessor of a master base station, wherein when executed, the programcauses the master base station to: gather traffic statistics informationof a service of a user terminal, wherein the traffic statisticinformation indicates an amount of data that is transferred between theuser terminal and the secondary base station, wherein the amount of datais a part or all of data of the service; and send a message to a corenetwork device via a control plane interface between the core networkdevice and the master base station, wherein the message comprises thetraffic statistics information, and indicates to the core network deviceto calculate a charge on the service according to the traffic statisticsinformation; wherein a control plane connection is reserved between themaster base station and the user terminal, and user plane data istransferred through the master base station or the secondary basestation.
 16. The non-transitory medium according to claim 15, whereinthe amount of data indicated by traffic statistics information is theamount of data of the service that is migrated from the master basestation to the secondary base station.
 17. The non-transitory mediumaccording to claim 15, wherein when executed by the processor, theprogram further causes the master base station to: send an indication tothe core network device, wherein the indication indicates that theamount of data of the service is transferred between the user terminaland the master base station through the secondary base station.
 18. Thenon-transitory medium according to claim 15, wherein the data of theservice comprises data of a bearer of the user terminal, and the beareris a split bearer.
 19. The non-transitory medium according to claim 18,wherein when executed by the processor, the program further causes themaster base station to: migrate the data of the bearer to the secondarybase station for transmission; and gather traffic statistics informationof the data of the bearer.
 20. The non-transitory medium according toclaim 15, wherein the traffic statistics information is gathered on aper bearer basis.
 21. The non-transitory medium according to claim 15,wherein when executed by the processor, the program further causes themaster base station to: send a first message to the secondary basestation, wherein the first message indicates that the master basestation determines to migrate an amount of data of the service to thesecondary base station; receive a response to the first message from thesecondary base station, wherein the response to the first messagecomprises configuration information of the secondary base station; senda second message to the user terminal, wherein the second messagecomprises the configuration information of the secondary base station;and migrate the amount of data of the service to the second base stationfor transmission after receiving a response to the second message fromthe user terminal.
 22. The non-transitory medium according to claim 21,wherein the first message is a request message for adding the secondarybase station, and the second message is a radio resource control (RRC)connection reconfiguration message.
 23. The non-transitory mediumaccording to claim 21, wherein the master base station uses a radioaccess technologies (RATs) different from the secondary base station.